Africa has most nations at risk
2005-06-29 14:33
Washington - A new study of the world's most at-risk countries says that six of the top seven are in Africa. It also lists Iraq and Afghanistan among the most vulnerable countries even though they receive large-scale United States assistance.
Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan topped the list.
The first annual "Failed States Index" was a project of Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, an organisation that seeks to prevent war and alleviate the conditions that cause war.
The report concluded that uneven development "was the most common symptom of state failure among all states on the index, suggesting that inequality, rather than poverty, most determines instability."
Other major contributing factors were demographic pressures and high crime levels, it said.
The most at-risk states, the study said, tend to receive little foreign aid or media attention, Iraq being an exception.
In making the evaluations, 12 social, economic, political, and military indicators were taken into account.
The 20 most at-risk countries, according to the study:
1. Ivory Coast
2. Democratic Republic of the Congo
3. Sudan
4. Iraq
5. Somalia
6. Sierra Leone
7. Chad
8. Yemen
9. Liberia
10. Haiti
11. Afghanistan
12. Rwanda
13. North Korea
14. Colombia
15. Zimbabwe
16. Guinea
17. Bangladesh
18. Burundi
19. Dominican Republic
20. Central African Republic
- AP